It Was A Week About Closure

When a peculiar fellow named John Mark Karr emerged earlier this week as a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder, there was a collective sigh of relief. There finally seemed to be some closure to a mystery that had perplexed authorities, the nation, and nourished the tabloids for a decade.

"I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr told a swarm of reporters. "Her death was an accident."

They were chilling words no one thought they'd ever hear, and almost immediately Karr's image was splashed all over the media, on every news network, on every paper. This oddly feminine-looking guy, whose old high school classmates and former students described him as a loner, was suddenly the most studied person on the planet.

Within hours, though, doubts about this school teacher's blunt confession began to surface. His ex-wife said she was with him during Christmastime in 1996, when the 6-year-old pageant princess was murdered. Was Karr the killer or just some twisted man obsessed with the grizzly Colorado murder? Something just wasn't quite right.

In this midst of this media whirlwind (which you might call perfect timing), embattled actor-director Mel Gibson quietly pled no contest to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in Malibu, Calif., closing the law book on his anti-Semitic tirade scandal in which he spewed awful remarks at the Jewish arresting deputy. Gibson's arraignment was originally scheduled for Sept. 28 but was moved forward after a request by his attorney.

On Thursday, Gibson received three years probation, vowed to immediately enter rehab, and will star in public service announcements on the hazards of drinking and driving. The jury is still out on whether or not his career will recover.

2Boy George might be able to offer Mel some advice on atonement. The '80s pop icon hit the streets of New York City this week to fulfill his court-ordered "exercise of humiliation" by becoming a trash collector for five days, his penance for filing a false police report in March.

Sporting a hilarious potato-sack like jumpsuit (which will be the inspiration for many a Halloween costume this season) George was heckled by reporters as he swept and shoveled debris off the street, all the while keeping his cool.

"You think you're better than me?" he yelled at the paparazzi. "Go home. Let me do my community service."

"This is supposed to be making me humble. Let me do this," he said later. "I just want to do my job." George's embarrassment was palpable.

5
The final chapter in Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson's storybook marriage was published this week. As ShowBuzz reported Monday, the pair split after almost six years of marriage.

Almost immediately after the announcement, rumors of an alleged affair between Kate Hudson and her "You, Me, and Dupree" costar Owen Wilson (also dubbed "The Butterscotch Stallion") began brewing.

Their "Secret Affair" was the cover of US Weekly's new issue.

A few days later, Jennifer Aniston closed a copy of US Weekly magazine and handed it to editors on a silver platter when she direct-dialed rival People magazine and told them that she was not, in fact, engaged to Vince Vaughn, an "exclusive" nugget US Weekly had reported the week before.

3"I'm not engaged and I don't have a ring and I haven't been proposed to," Aniston told People in the phone conversation she initiated. "Normally we don't even acknowledge these things because they're endless, at this point. The thing that got me was that I was getting phone calls from Greece! My Aunt Mary in Greece is getting accused of lying! I mean, they're getting angry."

Meanwhile, US Weekly stood by their story, telling the AP in a statement: "US Weekly based its story on lengthy interviews with four separate and independent sources close to the couple, including two who learned of the engagement directly from Vince Vaughn. Jennifer's publicist never denied the engagement in advance of publication."

No one knows the risks of the publishing business better than Britain's The Sun tabloid, which, for its Tuesday issue, printed fantastic photos of Princes William and Harry partying hard at a London bar. Harry appeared with one hand free for his next beverage, and, er, the other holding a boob.

4Turns out, much to the relief of Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, that the scandalous photos of him grabbing pal Natalie Pinkham's breast were snapped three years ago, even though the story said they were taken in the summer of 2006.

After much discussion with Britain's Clarence House, the following day the paper apologized, and, as a reprieve, promised to donate an unspecified amount of cash to a charity of Pinkham's choice.
By Amy Bonawitz